Truffle Gravy

Truffle is easy to get wrong, mostly because people use too much and add it too early. Half a teaspoon of a decent truffle oil, or a teaspoon of truffle paste, in a jug of gravy is enough to fill the room. It goes with roast chicken, a good sausage, or simply poured over mashed potato. Keep the rest of the gravy plain so the truffle has room.

Ingredients

Makes about 400ml, enough for four plates

• 30g (1oz) butter
• 150g (5oz) chestnut mushrooms sliced thin
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 500ml (18fl oz) hot chicken stock
• 2 tbsp double cream
• ½ tsp truffle oil or 1 tsp truffle paste, added right at the end
• salt and white pepper to taste

Kit

• Frying pan
• Saucepan
• Balloon whisk
• Fine sieve

Method

1. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a high heat. Add the mushrooms in one layer and leave them alone for two minutes so they colour rather than steam, then stir and cook for four minutes more until browned and squeaky.

2. Turn the heat down, add the shallot and cook for three minutes until soft. The pan should smell strongly of mushroom and butter by now.

3. Pour in the hot stock, bring to a simmer and cook for eight minutes uncovered, so the mushroom flavour moves into the liquid and the volume drops a little.

4. Mix the cornflour with the cold water until smooth and stir it through the simmering gravy. Cook for a minute until it thickens to a light coating consistency.

5. Stir in the cream and let it warm through for thirty seconds without boiling hard. Season with salt and white pepper, and get the seasoning right now, because you should not be stirring much once the truffle is in.

6. If you want a smooth gravy, strain it into a warm jug and press the mushrooms. If you like the pieces, leave them in.

7. Take it completely off the heat. Add the truffle oil, stir once, and serve within a few minutes. Truffle aroma is volatile and starts leaving the moment it meets heat, which is why it goes in last.

Tips worth knowing

• Half a teaspoon of truffle oil in 400ml is plenty for most people. A full teaspoon is the outer limit. Past that it stops smelling like truffle and starts smelling like a scented candle, and it will not fade during the meal.
• Truffle oil is almost always flavoured with a synthetic aroma compound rather than real truffle, which is why it is so strong. Treat it as a seasoning measured in drops.
• Truffle paste or a jar of preserved truffle carpaccio is a gentler option. Use a teaspoon, and it can go in a minute before the end rather than right at the death.
• Do not add truffle to a gravy that is already busy. Garlic, wine and strong herbs all fight it, which is why this base is deliberately plain.

Keeping and reheating

Eat it the day it is made. The truffle aroma is largely gone within twenty four hours in the fridge, and freezing kills it entirely. If you want to make it ahead, make the mushroom gravy in advance and add the truffle after reheating.

Questions people ask